Arcane might be viable if...

[:1]Mana Adept didn't conflict so terribly with intellect procs.

Let's face it, everything is intellect now; Volcanic potions, Power Torrent, Engineering loves, Tailoring enchant, DMC:V, etc, etc. And I don't think Arcane with its current form of Mana Adept is ever going to fit well in this hostile world of fluctuating intellect.

Arcane might be viable if Intellect proc's didn't change your % of mana. It's just silly that when my DMC:V procs, I lose between 6-7% damage because my mana drops to <80% instantly, now double that with a Volcanic potion and a Power Torrent proc? let alone synapse springs or Light-weave embroidery?

I personally don't think arcane with be a reasonable spec with the current system the way it is.

/Just my 2 cents


Arcane is ahead of fire in BiS gear. By a lot.

(Barring certain heroics like Halfus where fire's dps is skewed due to Combustion + Impact.)

http://www.simulationcraft.org/406-3/Raid_T11_372.html

The superiority or even viability of arcane at BiS 372 gear is entirely dependent on the Sinestra trinket Shard of Woe, and the few (exceptionally good) mages in the world who have this trinket haven't been able to demonstrate those kinds of numbers in real-world raiding even on relatively stand still fights like Chimaeron.


Even in 359 gear arcane was a decent chunk ahead of the other specs last I checked. Lhivera took down his 359 sims or else I'd link them :S
To bad sim's don't tell the whole story.
I do better as Arcane than fire on AVERAGE, but the ranges are about the same - just fire has too much *%%*ing RNGRNGRNG.

Arcane is ahead of fire in BiS gear. By a lot.

(Barring certain heroics like Halfus where fire's dps is skewed due to Combustion + Impact.)

http://www.simulationcraft.org/406-3/Raid_T11_372.html

On fights with no movement or adds. So, nothing current.

Arcane needs a major DPS buff or some utility added to the spec to bring it in line with fire's utility and movement.

Arcane is ahead of fire in BiS gear. By a lot.

(Barring certain heroics like Halfus where fire's dps is skewed due to Combustion + Impact.)

That's only true on fights that have no adds, movement, or other mechanics that deviate from Patchwerk. So, no fights.

You're also assuming that we have the Shard of Woe from Sinestra, which isn't highly unlikely for 99% of us.

EDIT: And even if Arcane was the best DPS spec in the game, the Intellect proc system is still poor. They really should fix it.
Please correct my math:

With my stats, using DM Volcano providing a 1600 Int buff for a short period, I get the following. I get 1600 more spell power and 2.4% more crit. With 22.5% mastery damage for 100% of mana, I would decrease my mastery to 17.55%. Arcane Blast has 0.9723 spellpower coefficient.

Assuming 100% mana, followed by a proc, I would drop to 78% mana (17.55% mastery). My Arcane Blast x 0 would hit for 1600 x 0.9723 x 1.1755 x 1.024 = 1872 more damage (including crit).

At 50% mana, the numbers are 39% mana (8.775% mastery) and my Arcane Blast x 0 would hit for 1600 x 0.9723 x 1.08775 x 1.024 = 1732 more damage.

Where did I go wrong?
Lol, arcane may be marginally better if you're just sitting there wailing on the dummy.

Everything is castable on the run with fire except for fireball. Arcane would lose so much dps simply from all the movement required in most boss fights.